Last month I offered NetGalley readers a chance to review my bestselling and award winning WWII novel, Surviving the Fatherland. Here are snippets of their reviews, which I have to admit, are great fun to read.

“Definitely 5 stars. I can see why this book is so loved. Very engrossing, deeply moving and character you will not forget. Everyone that loves a well researched historical will want this one.”

“Recommend to teens and adults. Highly readable.”

“I highly recommend it to anyone that likes coming of age stories or is fascinated with WWII as I am. This book should become a classic story of the German people during and after World War II because of the knowledge it imparts to each reader.”

“…this novel completely exceeded my expectations. It was heartbreaking, brutal, and beautiful. The fact that this is a true story, makes all of these characteristics stronger. I cannot encourage you enough to check it out!”

“This is a fascinating and in places a heartbreaking read. It is an honest, true, look at how two peoples lives were affected by World War 2.”

“…truly unlike any of this genre I have read and that’s a lot! A very remarkable book that everyone should read.”

German Translation of Surviving the Fatherland

I’m super excited to share that the German translation of Surviving the Fatherland, currently called Vaterland, wo bist du? will be represented by my literary agent, Dr. Dorothee Schmidt. This month she’s going to take the novel to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Please keep your fingers crossed!

Well, it’s been a busy month. Naomi, the narrator of the upcoming audiobook, ‘Surviving the Fatherland, jumped right in and began recording. Via ACX I could listen to each chapter to check for pronunciation, potential errors, etc. Well, Naomi is a pro and so I didn’t find much to flag. The occasional German word threw in a wrench or two. Like “Not-woh-nun-gen” which means emergency apartments or “Feuer-zangen-bowle” (The Punch Bowl), the name of a famous German movie with Heinz Rühmann which was based on a traditional German punch with rum, red wine and a sugar cone, set on fire. The former is an excellent old movie with a cool plot. The latter is tasty, but…, it does produce a guaranteed headache.

Audiobook Cover of ‘Surviving the Fatherland’

I listened to each chapter and then to the entire audiobook. Yes, my friends, it’s done—thirteen hours of amazing entertainment. But wait, there are a couple more things to complete. Payment has been made, ACX will do a QC check, and I’m still on schedule to publish by the end of July.

The German designer tweaked the cover of ‘Surviving the Fatherland,’ adding a bit of landscape on the right. Audiobooks require a format of 2,400 x 2,400 pixels. For my part I’m very excited to soon share a beautiful production of my parents’ true story with audiobook listeners.